Buick Ula Amphibious Vehicle by Josh Henry was inspired by two talented designers Melissa Sikorski and Carrie Fodor presentation during Josh internship at Sea Ray Boats. The presentation was about women and boating and how to make women to get more involved in recreational boating. From this point, Josh Henry wanted to design a version of his recreational boat that is less intimidating for beginners by combining a car and a trailer into a single unit with a boat “pod” attached to it.

Most people can’t afford to buy both a car and a boat at the same time, but if they choose Buick Ula Amphibious Vehicle, they’ll get both transportation, the process of deciding need vs want can be eliminated.

I wanted the design to be unique. I really thought about the surfaces and how they interact with one another. I wanted a lot of the details to be more subtle and make the vehicle much more approachable. One challenge from the beginning was how to make the two pieces (trailer and boat parts) cohesive and not only fit together, but look good both when they are apart as well as together.

I really liked the idea of utilizing those gaps between the pieces and how they fit together and really design them in a way that there’s a design detail and not try to just cover them up. One thing I did was added LED lighting that really emphasizes the part lines and really adds a lot of dynamic energy to the overall look and feel of the vehicle.

The overall theme I imagined and the picture I created in my head from the very beginning was a woman living in a modern world in the glamorous Miami. Buick Ula Amphibious Vehicle allows her to have the freedom that she desires by utilizing her vehicle on land and water as she pleases for both pleasure and transportation. Living in Miami, I also imagined the use for night life or just driving down the road in south beach in the sun. When I thought about adding the lighting on the vehicle, this was where I really just visualized Buick Ula Amphibious Vehicle, driving down south beach at night by all the clubs with the dramatic aqua colored lighting pouring onto the strip. Very appropriate for Miami.